Child's Play
by samdeco
Summary: Percy and Audrey's work-free, fun-filled, no-stress, let's-act-like-kids-again Friday.


**Child's Play**

At precisely five thirty every morning, Percy would wake from his sleep by the incessant blaring of his alarm clock. After flailing his arm around near the clock until it met the off button, he would carefully uncover himself from under the covers so he wouldn't wake his wife, Audrey, who usually rose with the sun. Every morning he would give his wife a peck on the cheek to which she would mumble an approval; then he went to the upstairs bathroom where he would wash, shave, dress, brush, floss, and comb in the same order. By the time he finished his routine of washing, shaving, dressing, brushing, flossing, and combing, it was about time for him to leave for work. He would go down to the kitchen grab a fruit 'n' nut bar, and finish it on his way to the fireplace where he flooed himself to work at the ministry.

Schedules and sameness were what worked for Percy. That way, he avoided risk. Schedules had advanced him in his career. Sameness hadn't yet knocked him down.

On this particular day, a Friday, the clock went from five twenty-nine to five thirty to five thirty-one without going off and without waking Percy. The whole house was quiet, too quiet. As it so happened, Percy was already awake, unaware that he was breaching his schedule. In his mind, he was going over a list of things he had to do that day at work. There was the morning mail checking, his meeting with Shacklebolt, lunch with the heads of the Magical Law Enforcement Department, his afternoon mail checking, more meetings, a small window of time to actually get work done, and then he was due home before Molly's first ballet recital.

He rolled over on the bed and lay for a few minutes of peacefulness with his sleeping wife. Her breathing was uneven, and she wasn't snoring.

"Good morning, Audrey," he said into her ear. His hands worked their way to the messy plait she did each night, and he loosened the elastic that kept it together. His fingers slid through the plait undoing it and splaying her wavy hair all over the pillow off of her neck. "You're up early."

Audrey yawned and rolled over onto her side to face him. She peered up at him through her long eyelashes, smeared with the makeup that she hadn't had the time to remove last night. Now that they had two young kids and a full-time job, they hardly had time for anything that wasn't in the schedule. Some nights, by the time they put Lucy and Molly to sleep, it was all they could do to keep from collapsing on the nursery floor.

"What are you talking about, Percy? I get up at this time every day."

She leaned forward, resting her hands on her pillow and kissed Percy. Her right hand flew up to his unshaven cheek. Percy always felt most self-concious in the morning, when he hadn't yet washed, shaved, dressed, brushed, flossed, and combed—in that order. In the mornings, he didn't feel like a good enough husband to have such an adorable wife even though Audrey always said she liked him best when he let loose.

"No you don't," Percy said, knowing he was right. He loved to be right, even if it meant proving his wife wrong. "It's not even five thirty yet. My alarm clock hasn't gone off. You're up earlier than usual."

Audrey shook her head and adjusted the large t-shirt that she had worn to bed that night. "No I'm not, Perce. You must have a defective alarm clock because my clock right here says that it's already six-oh-four, well past five thirty. Were you planning on taking a personal day from work? I think it would do you good. You've been quite stressed out lately."

By the time Audrey had finished saying those few sentences, Percy had already thrown the covers completely off he bed and rushed to the window. He threw open the curtains that were usually already opened but had somehow gotten closed. He couldn't see very well without his glasses on, but the light bounced through the window, filling the room with its brightness.

"Merlin," Percy muttered as calmly as he could. "Merlin Merlin Merlin."

As quickly as he could, he tossed the covers back on his wife and leaped over the bed toward the door. As his hand touched the handle of the brass doorknob, something hit him in the back of the head with the strength and aim of a chaser. It momentarily sidetracked him from his goal.

"Have you been hanging out with Ginny?" he asked, picking up the pillow and throwing it back to her.

Audrey nodded, but on her face was a look so serious that Percy had to drop his from the door and take a few steps back into the bedroom.

"I'm late," he grumbled. "What's the matter?"

Audrey pulled away a corner of the covers and patted the bed next to her. Percy didn't move, but the thought of spending the entire day lying in bed with Audrey was a very appealing one.

"I've got a meeting with the minister this morning. I can't be late today."

"You have something important every day," Audrey sighed. "Wouldn't it be nice to just take one little itty bitty day off?"

Percy sighed and moved toward the bed. He sat down on the corner, still in his pajamas. He turned his body to face her, but his feet and most of his torso was still facing the door. "You know I'd love nothing more Audrey, but I can't. I'm the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation and right now a day off is out of the question. I have to get going."

Audrey slid to a sitting up position, and she crawled toward Percy, stopping inches from his face. The serious expression was still written on her face. It made Percy a little nervous because she was usually nothing but joy. "You and the ministry," she humphed, sitting down and blowing a loose bit of hair out of her face. The hair fell right back into her eyes. "You're all so obsessed with where you're going. Everything you do is to get yourself farther in you career, so you can make more money, so you can do what? Why does work matter so much to you?"

"Audrey," Percy said, not really listening. "I can't talk right now. I have to go to work."

"What does one day matter, Perce?" Audrey asked crossing her arms over her chest and slumping back into the thick covers on the bed. She looked up at the ceiling and spread her arms out widely. "You won't get fired for one day, will you? Just take one day off. Please?"

Percy scooted farther back on the bed, taking up a position adjacent to Audrey. The thought of only taking one day off did sound appealing. Especially a day like today, when he had so much going on at work.

"Come on Percy," she whispered in his ear, scooting back toward the headboard Percy was now sitting against. She reached over across both of their bodies to give him a hug and rolled on top of him. Her long, blondish hair fell to the right side of her head and across Percy's arm. "Just. One. Day. Off." She leaned over and kissed him. He sheepishly returned the favor, feeling bad that he hadn't yet brushed his teeth.

"Is that a yes?" she asked, laying her head down on his chest and staring up at him with her big brown eyes. He wrapped his arms around her middle and pulled her closer, kissing her once more.

"You've convinced me," he whispered.

"Oh this is going to be the best work-free, fun-filled, no-stress, let's-act-like-kids-again day that the world has ever known!" she squealed, rolling back to her side of the bed. "I can't wait to get started.

"Percy and Audrey's work-free, fun-filled, no-stress, let's-act-like-kids-again Friday," Percy repeated almost verbatim. "It has a nice ring. I'll go get dressed, and we can start."

"No, you're not," Audrey said, hindering his getting up by putting her forearm on him. "And don't even think about brushing, shaving, showering, combing, boring, flossing or whatever the order is because I'm not letting you do that either!"

Percy sighed. He had just thought of something else. "What about Molly and Lucy? We still have to get them ready."

"They're at your mum's," Audrey said grinning suspiciously.

"Is my alarm clock really broken? Or did you just turn it off?" Percy asked a minute later.

"I'll never tell," Audrey said. "But I'll go ahead and assume it'll be back to working again by Monday."

"You're evil," Percy said laying back down on the bed and curling the covers over himself. "But I love you."

"I know you do," Audrey said.

Percy closed his eyes. He felt like he had jumped headfirst into a lake of pixie dust. It had been years since he slept past six.

* * *

><p><strong>"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men." - Willy Wonka<strong>


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